There have been many types and kinds of wheel alignment devices and techniques. For example, reference may be made to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,281,769; 3,488,857; 4,453,315; 4,651,431 and 4,782,596, each patent mentioned being incorporated herein by reference as though fully set forth.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,431 provided an improved method of wheel alignment by replacing a wheel to be aligned with a wheel alignment device. In this regard, the device is adapted to be mounted to a vehicle wheel strut assembly and supported from below on a camber adjustment rack.
While the above mentioned device and method provides an improvement over the more commonly used wheel in place alignment technique, it would be desirable to have a new and improved device and method that does not require the use of a large bulky and relatively expensive camber rack. In this regard, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved alignment device and method that enables the camber to be adjusted in the wheel well of the vehicle while the vehicle is supported from below by the remaining wheels of the vehicle.
The device disclosed in the 4,782,596 is attachable to a wheel strut assembly of a motor vehicle in place of the vehicle wheel to help support the vehicle during a wheel alignment operation. The alignment device supports either a camber adjustment gauge, or a toe adjustment gauge. For this purpose, a small forwardly projecting hub disposed within the well of a larger hub of the device includes a front wall for supporting the camber gauge. This arrangement enabled the gauge zeroing operation to be eliminated.
While such an alignment device has been successful in its manner of operation, it would be desirable to have an improved version of the device, which would enable it to assist in the wheel alignment operation in the camber adjustment operation, so that it can be performed in an even more accurate and faster manner. In this regard, at least for some devices, the front wall is not true relative to the strut assembly. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved alignment device that can be referenced in an absolute manner relative to the strut assembly of the vehicle.
Also while the above mentioned camber alignment device and method were successful, the irregular shape of worn hubs, did not always allow the plurality of magnets mounted in the base of the camber gauge to be firmly attached to the hub face in the most desirable manner.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have an improved wheel alignment device, which eliminates the need for using magnets to attach the camber adjustment gauge and which can be attached firmly to the wheel alignment device.